City Spy: Hack flies into flak on jolly with BA

Friday 3 October 2014 09:54 BST

A diligent hack was detained for taking notes at the White House

To impress the press corps on the occasion of IAG’s inaugural A380 flight to Washington, the British Airways owner’s US friends pulled strings to arrange a rare treat — a tour of the White House and its West Wing.

It turned out to be a night to remember for a journalist from Barcelona, who was detained for an hour after arousing Secret Service suspicions by taking notes while she was on the tour.

Following the resignation of Secret Service boss Julia Pierson in the wake of a series of embarrassing security blunders at the White House, the diligent hack perhaps didn’t pick the best time to be scribbling down details such as the colour of the carpet.

She was picked up by security outside the Vice-President’s office and held while a Spanish speaker was found to translate her notes. Luckily, she wasn’t deemed a risk to national security and sheepishly rejoined her colleagues later.

Willie Walsh sceptical over Branson's unlimited holiday rule

Following Sir Richard Branson’s offer of unlimited holidays to his staff, will IAG boss and bitter rival Willie Walsh follow in Beardie’s footsteps?

Not on your nelly. “I haven’t seen the offer extended to Virgin Atlantic pilots,” he says, his voice tinged with scepticism.

What’s in a name when you’re in PR?

Rob Bailhache and two of his former Financial Dynamics colleagues have set up their own financial PR business.

Bailhache, who more recently headed Direct Line’s in-house PR team, has alighted on the name Neustria Partners. What on earth that name means, it is wonderful for making anagrams. Such as: urinates, arse unit, urea nits and anti-user.

Come to think of it, all of those fit PR.

Tesco shuns tech offices for Hudl 2's debut

Spy was intrigued to see Tesco’s launch of its Hudl 2 tablet took place away from its fancy St Katharine Docks tech offices where Hudl 1 was unveiled and will be at Kings Place, home to the Guardian.

Could this be the end of Tesco’s “innovation hub”? Or is the supermarket trying to win over tech-savvy hacks at the Guardian with its tablet? Spy hopes it’s the former because the pedestal reserved for Apple in Guardian headquarters looks firmly in place.

Time to look at the fresh-start menu

Satya Nadella will be in good company at next month’s Future Decoded when the new Microsoft chief executive makes his first UK appearance since taking the job.

Nadella will be tackling the weighty subject of “What it will take for the UK to thrive in the next decade?” alongside such titled luminaries as Sir Martin Sorrell, Dame Stella Rimington and Sir Bob Geldof.

But perhaps a question Nadella should be asking is: what will it take Microsoft to thrive in the next decade? The computing giant he has inherited is not in the best of health…